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Tax Law Professors Ask Senate to Vote on Tax Court Nominees

NOV. 10, 2016

Tax Law Professors Ask Senate to Vote on Tax Court Nominees

DATED NOV. 10, 2016
DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
  • Authors
    Abreu, Alice
    Allison, Grace
    Appleberry, Nicole
    Arevalo, Luz
    Arsenault, Steven J.
    Bird-Pollan, Jennifer E.
    Book, Leslie M.
    Borden, Bradley T.
    Brunson, Samuel D.
    Clynch, John
    Cochran, Mark Wright
    Chodorow, Adam
    Cords, Danshera
    Crawford, Bridget J.
    Decatorsmith, Jonathan
    Fleming, J. Clifton, Jr.
    Fogg, Keith
    Forman, Jonathan Barry
    Galler, Linda
    Garza, Lisa
    Gellner, Jennifer A.
    Harrison, Paul
    Infanti, Anthony C.
    Johnson, Steve R.
    Kaye, Tracy
    Larson, Joni
    Lazar, Stuart
    Lederman, Leandra
    Leff, Benjamin
    Liguori, Jennifer
    Lipman, Francine J.
    Lokken, Lawrence
    Luke, Charlene
    Mann, Roberta F.
    Maule, James Edward
    Mazza, Stephen W.
    McGovern, Bruce A.
    Morgeson, Terri M.
    Murphy, Ann
    Pareja, Mary Leto
    Rangan, Rashmi
    Richmond, Gail Levin
    Ryan, Kerry A.
    Schumacher, Scott A.
    Siener, Angela
    Seto, Theodore P.
    Speidel, Christine
    Stearns, Erin H.
    Stein, Norman P.
    Streng, William
    White, Thomas R., III
    Winchester, Richard
  • Cross-Reference
    Prior coverage 2016 TNT 75-8: News Stories.
  • Subject Area/Tax Topics
  • Jurisdictions
  • Language
    English
  • Tax Analysts Document Number
    Doc 2016-22494
  • Tax Analysts Electronic Citation
    2016 TNT 219-30

 

November 10, 2016

 

 

The Honorable Mitchell McConnell

 

Senate Majority Leader

 

United States Senate

 

317 Russell Senate Office Building

 

Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

The Honorable Harry Reid

 

Senate Minority Leader

 

United States Senate

 

522 Hart Senate Office Building

 

Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

cc:

The Honorable John Cornyn, Senate Majority Whip

The Honorable Orrin Hatch, Chair of the Senate Finance Committee

The Honorable Ron Wyden, Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee

The Honorable Chuck Schumer, Senate Finance Committee

 

RE: Recommendation for Vote on United States Tax Court Nominations

 

Dear Majority Leader McConnell and Democratic Leader Reid:

We the 52 undersigned tax law professors, academics, and clinicians strongly encourage you to set the U.S. Tax Court nominees, nominee numbers 510 and 511 (Vik Edwin Stoll and Elizabeth Ann Copeland), for an immediate floor vote. Both nominees were unanimously, favorably reported out of the Senate Finance Committee on April 18, 2016 and await a confirmation vote. The Senate received each nomination over a year ago. Vik Edwin Stoll's nomination was received by the Senate on November 9, 2015, more than one year ago. Elizabeth Ann Copeland's nomination was received by the Senate on May 4, 2015, over eighteen months ago.

These two nominees have been fully vetted and favorably reported out of the Senate Finance Committee. Moreover, appointment to the U.S. Tax Court has traditionally been a nonpartisan appointment, based on merit. The Senate should therefore look past any partisan concerns and bring these nominees to the floor for a vote.

For the Senate to fail to vote on two U.S. Tax Court nominees who were unanimously, favorably reported out of the appropriate Committee would not only be a waste of government resources, it would be a hardship to taxpayers. The U.S. Tax Court is the sole trial court through which taxpayers may seek judicial relief before paying a disputed federal tax liability, and it is the trial court through which nearly all tax litigation flows. Vacancies on the U.S. Tax Court mean that taxpayers wait longer for their cases to be heard, while interest continues to accrue should the deficiency be upheld, as do time-sensitive penalties, if applicable. Thus, a delay in considering nominees to this court is costly for U.S. taxpayers. As tax law professors, we are concerned about the hardship to taxpayers that Congress's failure to act on U.S. Tax Court nominees occasions.

For all of these reasons, please do not let these nominations expire with the end of this Congress; instead, allow them the opportunity to have a full vote on the Senate floor.

Sincerely,

 

 

[University affiliation provided for identification purposes only]

 

 

Alice Abreu

 

Professor of Law, Temple University, Beasley School of Law,

 

Philadelphia, PA

 

 

Grace Allison

 

Adjunct Clinical Professor, University of New Mexico School of Law,

 

Albuquerque, NM

 

 

Nicole Appleberry

 

Clinical Assistant Professor of Law,

 

University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, MI

 

 

Luz Arevalo

 

Boston, MA

 

 

Steven J. Arsenault

 

Professor of Law, Charlotte School of Law, Charlotte, NC

 

 

Jennifer E. Bird-Pollan

 

James and Mary Lassiter Associate Professor of Law,

 

University of Kentucky College of Law, Lexington, KY

 

 

Leslie Book

 

Professor of Law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law,

 

Villanova, PA

 

 

Bradley T. Borden

 

Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School, Brooklyn, NY

 

 

Samuel Brunson

 

Professor of Law, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Chicago, IL

 

 

John Clynch

 

Law Lecturer, University of Washington, School of Law, Seattle, WA

 

 

Mark Cochran

 

Professor of Law, St. Mary's University, School of Law,

 

San Antonio, TX

 

 

Adam Chodorow

 

Associate Dean for Strategic Planning, Willard H. Pedrick

 

Distinguished Research Scholar, and Professor of Law,

 

Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law,

 

Phoenix, AZ

 

 

Danshera Cords

 

Visiting Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law

 

 

Bridget J. Crawford

 

Professor of Law, Pace University, Elisabeth Haub School of Law,

 

White Plains, NY

 

 

Jonathan Decatorsmith

 

Clinical Associate Professor of Law,

 

Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law,

 

Chicago, IL

 

 

J. Clifton Fleming, Jr.

 

Ernest L. Wilkinson Chair and Professor of Law,

 

Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Provo UT

 

 

T. Keith Fogg

 

Visiting Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, Boston, MA

 

 

Jonathan Barry Forman

 

Alfred P. Murrah Professor, University of Oklahoma College of Law,

 

Norman, OK

 

 

Linda Galler

 

Professor of Law, Hofstra University, Maurice A. Deane School of Law,

 

Hempstead, NY

 

 

Lisa Garza

 

Kansas City, MO

 

 

Jennifer A. Gellner

 

Assistant Professor, Gonzaga University School of Law, Spokane, WA

 

 

Paul Harrison

 

Director, Tax Clinic, Chicago, IL

 

 

Anthony C. Infanti

 

Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law,

 

Pittsburgh, PA

 

 

Steve R. Johnson

 

Dunbar Family Professor of Law, College of Law,

 

Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

 

 

Tracy Kaye

 

Professor of Law, Seton Hall University School of Law, Newark, NJ

 

 

Joni Larson

 

Professor of Law, Indiana Tech Law School, Fort Wayne, IN

 

 

Stuart Lazar

 

Professor of Law, State University of New York, Buffalo Law School,

 

Buffalo, NY

 

 

Leandra Lederman

 

William W. Oliver Professor of Tax Law,

 

Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, IN

 

 

Benjamin Leff

 

Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law,

 

Washington, D.C.

 

 

Jennifer Liguori

 

Charlotte, NC

 

 

Francine J. Lipman

 

William S. Boyd Professor of Law, University of Nevada,

 

William S. Boyd School of Law, Las Vegas, NV

 

 

Lawrence Lokken

 

Hugh Culverhouse Eminent Scholar and Professor of Law Emeritus,

 

University of Florida College of Law, Gainesville, FL

 

 

Charlene D. Luke

 

Professor of Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law,

 

Gainesville, FL

 

 

Roberta F. Mann

 

Mr. & Mrs. L.L. Stewart Professor of Business Law,

 

University of Oregon School of Law, Eugene, OR

 

 

James Edward Maule

 

Professor of Law Emeritus,

 

Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, Villanova, PA

 

 

Stephen W. Mazza

 

Dean and Professor of Law, University of Kansas School of Law,

 

Lawrence, KS

 

 

Bruce A. McGovern

 

Professor of Law and Director, Low Income Taxpayer Clinic,

 

South Texas College of Law, Houston, TX

 

 

Terri M. Morgeson

 

Director Low Income Tax Clinic, Texas Tech University School of Law,

 

Lubbock, TX

 

 

Ann Murphy

 

Professor of Law, Gonzaga University School of Law, Spokane, WA

 

 

Mary Leto Pareja

 

Assistant Professor of Law, University of New Mexico School of Law,

 

Albuquerque, NM

 

 

Rashmi Rangan

 

DCRAC LITC, De. Community Reinvestment Action Council, Inc.,

 

Wilmington, DE

 

 

Gail Levin Richmond

 

Professor Emerita of Law, Nova Southeastern University,

 

Shepard Broad College of Law, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

 

 

Kerry A. Ryan

 

Associate Professor of Law, Saint Louis University School of Law,

 

St. Louis, MO

 

 

Scott A. Schumacher

 

Professor of Law, University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, WA

 

 

Angela Siener

 

Elgin, IL

 

 

Theodore P. Seto

 

Professor of Law, Loyola Marymount University, Loyola Law School,

 

Los Angeles, CA

 

 

Christine Speidel

 

Director, Low-Income Tax Clinic, Vermont Legal Aid, Springfield, VT

 

 

Erin H. Stearns

 

Assistant Professor of the Practice of Taxation, University of Denver,

 

Sturm College of Law, Denver, CO

 

 

Norman P. Stein

 

Professor of Law, Drexel University, Kline School of Law,

 

Philadelphia, PA

 

 

William Streng

 

Vinson & Elkins Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center,

 

Houston, TX

 

 

Thomas R. White III

 

John C. Stennis Professor of Law,

 

University of Virginia School of Law, Charlotte, VA

 

 

Richard Winchester

 

Professor of Law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, CA
DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
  • Authors
    Abreu, Alice
    Allison, Grace
    Appleberry, Nicole
    Arevalo, Luz
    Arsenault, Steven J.
    Bird-Pollan, Jennifer E.
    Book, Leslie M.
    Borden, Bradley T.
    Brunson, Samuel D.
    Clynch, John
    Cochran, Mark Wright
    Chodorow, Adam
    Cords, Danshera
    Crawford, Bridget J.
    Decatorsmith, Jonathan
    Fleming, J. Clifton, Jr.
    Fogg, Keith
    Forman, Jonathan Barry
    Galler, Linda
    Garza, Lisa
    Gellner, Jennifer A.
    Harrison, Paul
    Infanti, Anthony C.
    Johnson, Steve R.
    Kaye, Tracy
    Larson, Joni
    Lazar, Stuart
    Lederman, Leandra
    Leff, Benjamin
    Liguori, Jennifer
    Lipman, Francine J.
    Lokken, Lawrence
    Luke, Charlene
    Mann, Roberta F.
    Maule, James Edward
    Mazza, Stephen W.
    McGovern, Bruce A.
    Morgeson, Terri M.
    Murphy, Ann
    Pareja, Mary Leto
    Rangan, Rashmi
    Richmond, Gail Levin
    Ryan, Kerry A.
    Schumacher, Scott A.
    Siener, Angela
    Seto, Theodore P.
    Speidel, Christine
    Stearns, Erin H.
    Stein, Norman P.
    Streng, William
    White, Thomas R., III
    Winchester, Richard
  • Cross-Reference
    Prior coverage 2016 TNT 75-8: News Stories.
  • Subject Area/Tax Topics
  • Jurisdictions
  • Language
    English
  • Tax Analysts Document Number
    Doc 2016-22494
  • Tax Analysts Electronic Citation
    2016 TNT 219-30
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